Cybill Shepherd Opens Up About Reconciliation with Moonlighting Co-Star Bruce Willis
Cybill Shepherd expresses her gratitude that the tumultuous relationships with Bruce Willis and Christine Baranski are in the past.
In an interview with People, published on Tuesday, October 14, Shepherd, who is 75, revealed her relief that her feud with Moonlighting co-star Willis, 70, was resolved following his dementia diagnosis, along with his announcement to step back from acting.
“Yes, I’m very grateful for that,” she told the publication. “Yeah, it was time.”
Moonlighting, which aired from 1985 to 1989, featured Willis as David Addison, a private detective who ends up reluctantly partnering with Maddie Hayes, portrayed by Shepherd, due to unforeseen challenges. The duo’s on-screen friction eventually mirrored their off-screen interactions.
During a 1990 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, Willis admitted that he and Shepherd hardly socialized outside of filming and playfully noted that Shepherd seemed to continue discussing their show long after it ended.
When asked by host Arsenio Hall if he would consider working with Shepherd again in a film, the Die Hard actor dismissed the idea.
“I don’t think so. Not right now, anyway. Look, Moonlighting was a fantastic show for me, and I had a lot of fun with it. But we eventually reached a point where it was no longer enjoyable,” Willis reflected. “We also ran out of things for those characters to explore.”
Willis shared that he and Shepherd didn’t always see eye-to-eye on set, stating, “Fourteen-hour days, five days a week, and I was working year-round … I hold no grudges. I’ve moved on to different projects.”
Shepherd addressed the unresolved tensions in 2000, claiming that the on-screen chemistry between Maddie and David initially translated to their real-life interactions. She reminisced about a moment where they shared a passionate kiss on a sofa early in Moonlighting’s run. However, when she approached Willis with a bottle of wine to see if they would take the next step, he turned her down.
“We never wrapped up what we started,” she revealed to The Scottish Daily Record in 2000, admitting that she was relieved nothing romantic transpired. “But after getting to know him, I’m grateful I didn’t get involved. Bruce Willis can be quite a jerk.”
Yet, over a decade later, Shepherd spoke fondly of Willis after his diagnosis of aphasia in March 2022, asserting to Extra that she would “always love” her former co-star.
Shepherd also confirmed to People that her past conflict with Cybill co-star Baranski, 73, has been resolved. In the ’90s sitcom, Shepherd played the lead character striving to fulfill her acting aspirations, while Baranski portrayed her best friend Maryann.
“We’re in a good place now,” Shepherd told People about her relationship with Baranski. When asked what facilitated their reconciliation, she noted, “Just a conversation and being open-hearted with each other.”
In her 2000 memoir, Cybill Disobedience, Shepherd described her strained relationship with Baranski, attributing it to Baranski’s “unfriendly” demeanor. On the other hand, Baranski mentioned to The Guardian in 2022 that there indeed were “issues” on set, but she preferred to focus on the opportunities the show provided her.
